We’ve all been there. An impending job interview, but little to no idea on what to expect. Frequently asking yourself, “how do I behave, what do I say or better yet, not say”.
An imperative part of a successful interview is your ability to demonstrate your skills by answering interviewer’s questions. Career coaches claim that interview questions can be divided into knowledge-based questions and behavioral questions. Let’s look into that.
Types of questions to expect:
Knowledge questions are those that test your understanding of the industry. These can be tricky, as any industry is forever evolving, and so should your understanding. Whereas, behavioral questions are centered on your past experiences. These typically start with “tell me about a time when…”. By this employers are trying to understand how you managed various situations in the past. Using any information you give, to gauge how your personality traits may benefit them at your future job.
Looking deeper into the ‘Job Interview’:
This post contains ten various behavioral questions and recommendations on how to answer them using the S.T.A.R method. But first, a little bit of theory.
The STAR method- expanded, is read as Situation-Task-Action-Result. This technique is best employed in answering behavior-based questions.
Situation: Describe the situation that took place and what you needed to do to overcome it.
Task: What was your exact goal?
Action: What did you do to reach the goal?
Result: How did the situation end? What did it teach you?
For example, if the employer asks you to tell her about a time when you managed a conflict between your colleagues. You start by describing a situation/scenario of the occurrence.
After that, you exhibit a problem-solving attitude. You make clear the goal you’ve set out to achieve. If the goal was to get rid of a conflict and come to a compromise. Then, action: what did you exactly do to solve the issue? You can say that you listened to both sides and developed a solution that suited both of them.
Finally, the result– was the conflict solved? What did you learn? Which skills and qualities were you able to practice?
10 typical questions to expect:
Try answering the following questions using the STAR technique:
• Tell me about a time when you made a mistake and how you were able to solve it.
• Tell me about a time when your employer implemented a new policy to which you did not agree.
• Have you ever had a difficult customer? How did you manage this person?
• Give me an example of when you failed a task.
• Give me an example of when you set and achieved a goal.
• Tell me about a time when your job duties changed without any notice.
• Have you ever made a risky decision?
• Have you ever made an unpopular decision and how did you handle it?
• Describe a time when you had too many tasks and how did you prioritize them?
• Give me an example of when you delegated a project successfully.
Behavioral questions are only a part of what you need to know to be successful at your interview. Check our new online course “Mastering the Interview” to learn more tips. With love from Cudoo, we wish all of you out there the best of luck for your future interviews.
Andrie Steliou
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